Poor H1 results for container terminals

The first half of 2023 at Polish container terminals ended with significantly lower turnover than in the corresponding periods of the two previous years. A total of 1.4 million TEUs were handled, down 9% from last year. Imports and exports suffered an identical decline.

Comparing the volume of transshipments in consecutive months at individual container terminals, 2 opposite trends can be observed. Turnover volumes at the Baltic Hub have been rising steadily since February this year, while they have been falling steadily at the other terminals. The reasons for this variation are probably to be found in the difference in the connections served. It can be concluded that trade with the Far East, which is carried out through the Baltic Hub, is picking up after the demand crisis caused by high inflation, while the short-haul connections carried out through the other terminals reflect the constantly reduced demand in European markets after the wave of price increases.

The weakness of Polish manufacturers is also noticeable. Although exports and imports through container terminals decreased by an identical 9%, in exports there was a significant 14% increase in empty containers, and a 16% decrease in full containers. In imports, the number of both full and empty containers decreased, but this phenomenon affected more dynamically the empty ones, whose number decreased by 18%, compared to the full ones at 5.5%.

Poland’s largest container terminal, Baltic Hub, handled 1 million TEUs in the past six months. This result is worse than both that achieved in H1 2022 and 2021. The dominant influence on this result was a 12% decrease in exports from Gdansk. Imports declined by only 3%. In addition, to the detriment of exports is the fact that the number of full containers shipped declined more rapidly, down 14% than empty containers, down 4%. In imports, the number of full containers was virtually unchanged, down 0.7%, while empty containers rose 6%.

As for Gdynia, transshipments at BCT in H1 this year amounted to 255.8 TEUs, a decline of almost 10% in turnover compared to the same period last year. The deterioration in the result was determined by a decrease in imports conducted through this terminal. Compared to the same period last year, 30.6% fewer containers arrived there. Exports, on the other hand, were actually up – by 6.3%. Unfortunately, the increase was generated by empty containers, which increased by 182.4%. In contrast, the number of full containers in exports decreased by 16%.

GCT, on the other hand, is decreasing throughput volume for the third consecutive year, from 201.9 TEUs in H1 2021, through 192.8 TEUs in H1 2022, to 151,000 TEUs in the past six months. Imports and exports were down in equal measure. The former decreased by 20% compared to the same period last year, and the latter by 23%. In imports, empty containers increased by 1%, while full containers decreased by 27%. Exports lost 10% of empty containers and 23% of full containers.

DB Port Szczecin, on the other hand, was the only one that could consider the past six months as better than the same period in 2022. 37.6 thousand TEUs were handled there, a 7% improvement in the result. At the same time, however, this result is worse than that achieved in H1 2021 when 41,400 TEUs were handled. Imports conducted through the Szczecin terminal grew more rapidly, with an increase of 10.6%. The volume of exports increased by 3.9%. In exports, only empty containers grew – by 39.5%, while full containers remained virtually unchanged. Imports, on the other hand, saw a more dynamic increase in full containers, up 35%, while the number of empty containers rose by 7.8%.

According to Marek Tarczyński, chairman of the Council of the Polish Chamber of Shipping and Logistics, declines in container transshipment are not just a Polish problem. There is less containerized cargo on the market, which would confirm the thesis that we have entered a period of not even stagnation, but even a slight recession in international trade.

Article developed with Namiary na Morze i Handel magazine

phot. Namiary na Morze i Handel magazine